Segarini: Squeeze! Great music, great food, great drink!

Music is my crack (there is never enough), food is my heroin (it soothes the soul and lays you back), and beer is my marijuana (Say…Lady Ga Ga is kinda sexy). The Holy Trinity of Life on Earth.

Thursday night at Toronto’s annual Beer Fest, I found The Trinity…and Jack Daniels and Cola in a can.

Drugs? Who needs ‘em!

BULLETIN!!!

Gotta Have (Grand) Pop!

I am a proud grandfather for the second time.

My beautiful daughter Amy delivered a beautiful 7.4 lb. baby sister for big brother Marshall (who turns 2 in November) at 4:48 yesterday afternoon.

Married to guitar tech and musician Tim Mech, Mother and daughter are both doing fine.

The baby’s mystical birthday falls on 8/9/10. I am so proud of my daughter, she is the bravest and most caring woman I know. She gets those qualities, and her beauty, from her mother.

Squeeze Play: Going anywhere with Richard Freedman is what used to be known as a “Blast and a Half”. Richard is just too much fun to be with.

First and foremost, he is always in a great mood. Where others see an annoyance or an obstacle, Richard (pictured here with Cherish Stevenson) sees an adventure or opportunity.

He is a wonderful photographer with a perceptive eye. He directs his subjects like a Bernstein or a Cukor, finding the right passage to highlight, the most flattering and evocative expression, and the personality that lies unseen in the faces of his subjects, the indefinable ‘id’ that most photographers miss. He has the “Oh Boy/Gee Whiz” attitude of a slightly more mature Jimmy Olsen, and the tenacity of a ‘30’s newspaper photographer that can burst into the City Desk editor’s office and yell “Stop the presses!” He is both gregarious and humble, and as good a listener as he is a storyteller.

Thanks to Squeeze’s assistant, Grace, and the BeerFest’s Stephen Murdock, Richard and I found ourselves with passes to the annual celebration of the frothy thirst quencher, and backstage access to the band that closed out the opening days festivities, Squeeze.

Now, being anywhere within a 100 yards of an attractive woman, Richard will make a beeline for them, bark out a couple of friendly orders, and the next thing you know, these lovely young things, these adorable strangers, follow Richard’s instructions like he’s got some sort of Jedi mind control, and Voila! Instant memorable photograph. So before we even get to the Bandshell where Squeeze are performing, Richard fires off dozens of shots and leaves a sea of smiling faces in his wake as we make our way through the crowd.

We had met most of the Squeezes (Squeezles?) the night before at Cherry Cola, a bar whose owners, Cherish Stevenson and Glenn Hughes, attract damn near every visiting actor/musician/rock star/cultural icon that happens to be in the vicinity. In the last 4 days alone I have run into Squeeze, actress/singer Juliette Lewis (pictured here with Michelle Grimaldi), Billy Talent’s Ian D’Sha, actor and the Hooligans’ Pete Townsend, Dave Kiner, Blackheath Hounds drummer Jody Brumell, and Don Cornelius, the drummer for Danko Jones, not the Soul Train dude. There were probably more, but there aren’t enough hours in the day to meet everybody who goes there. In the last little while, everybody from L.A’s Eagles of Death Metal and Rival Sons, members of Slayer and Ween, to the Trailer Park Boys, and Jack White have hung out, chatted, and drank with the regulars there.

Glenn Tilbrook, whom I haven’t seen since Squeeze played the old RPM club down on the Lakeshore back in the 80’s, was cleverly wearing a Squeeze promotional t-shirt and he and most of his bandmates closed the bar with us the night before their show at the Beer Fest. You would be hard pressed to find a more friendly and accessible group of gentlemen than this lot, or a more talented bunch of singers, players, and songwriters. If you are at all familiar with Squeeze, you know that Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook (pictured here) are right up there with Lennon and McCartney as pop tunesmiths, and Squeeze was also the home, off and on, of Jools Holland and Paul Carrack, whose skills in that department are also to be reckoned with. Squeeze may not have had the massive success they most certainly deserve, but they are top ten on every pop music connoisseur’s list of great bands and iconic writers…and for good reason. Over the years, Difford and Tilbrook’s music hasn’t aged at all. This is timeless music.

Here they are on Top of the Pops back in 1980, doing the brilliant Another Nail In My Heart, and 30 years later, just last month, on Jimmy Fallon, Squeeze played my all time favourite Squeeze song, Pulling Mussels from the Shell Check out their new CD, Spot the Difference.

Keith’s! Steam Whistle! Mill Street! Jack Daniels! Jack Daniels?…

Back at the Beer Fest, Richard and I hang out for a while in the Media/Press area drinking very tasty free beer and having a bite to eat before we head over to the bandshell where Squeeze will be playing. Richard is constantly taking pictures there, and on the walk over to the stage. While he positions himself for the show, I wander off and find the Jack Daniels booth, where they are introducing Jack and Lemonade, Jack and Iced Tea, and Jack and Cola in cans to the Canadian public. Jack and Cola and Lynchburg Lemonade have been available in the U.S for years, so it was nice to see them here…finally. Hell, in Australia you can get Wild Turkey and Cola in a can. We are so behind the times here…if you like your mixed drinks in a can.

Getting Squeezed…

There is something special about seeing bands with history play the music they have played for decades with as much (if not more) energy and joy as they had the first time they performed these songs. The Eagles are better now than they ever were, The Stones have somehow managed to do it, James Brown ALWAYS did it, and even Paul McCartney is out there, shaking his graying locks and hitting the high notes. The current Allman Brothers Band is absolutely breathtaking. Seasoned musicians playing music that still carries weight are a joy to behold. It will be interesting to see who out of today’s hitmakers will be able to do what these bands do decades from now, without sounding old, tired, or foolish.

Squeeze (who took their name from a Velvet Underground song) plays a killer set. Old and young alike are dancing in front of the stage, and the band looks like they’re having a ball. Great songs and great sound, the set was over all too quickly.

(Pictured here: Steven Large and Chris Difford)

After the encore, Richard, the gang from Cherry Cola, and I make our way back to the Green Room in the bowels of the Bandshell. While we’re waiting for the band to dry off and change, I notice a bunch of chaffing dishes on a side table. I have a look. What I find makes the night not only musical, but mystical…

The New Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll…

…is Food and Drink and Rock and Roll. And don’t you forget it.

We know this is for the band and the crew, but we can’t help but sneak a bite or two. After so many deli-platters, nachos, and chips, this takes being backstage to a whole new level, harkening back to crew meals on tours, major concert dressing room feasts, and just plain, “Oh boy, there are knives and forks!” (Pictured here: Michelle, Cherish and Amanda in the Green Room)

Glenn Hughes and I pick away at a piece of salmon so perfectly cooked, seasoned, and moist, that I am transported to Ivar’s in Seattle, home of the best salmon I have ever had. There is perfectly marinara’d lasagna, and one of those little thin steaks, normally overcooked and tough, so tender and rare and flavourful, that I am tempted to wolf down the whole tray. I’m raving about the repast to Dave Kiner (pictured here with Glenn Tilbrook) and we are joined by the men responsible for this glorious food, Louie Cristello and James Russo, 2 of the partners in the Cristello Hospitality Group, who also own and operate Southside Louie’s, Lounge 88, and The Monarch Tavern, all on or just off College Street in Little Italy/Portugal, and the Pump up at Bloor and Brunswick and the Banknote Bar and Supergrill at King and Bathurst. These guys do with the four food groups what Squeeze does with the 12 note western musical scale. They make down-to-earth, timeless, greatness.

Coupled with the bottomless keg of Steam Whistle Beer, If we didn’t have to get back to Cherry Cola, I would have stayed to lick the plates, and empty the keg.

We closed out the night back at Cherry’s, talking about the set and the Beer Fest, and Richard kept shooting away. See Squeeze the first chance you get, try the restaurants that Louie and James are rightfully proud of, and visit Cherry Cola whenever you’re anywhere near Bathurst and Queen. You will thank me if you do…

One last note. Simon Hanson, Squeeze drummer par excellence, attracts hotties like an old fashioned movie idol. Women were all over this guy like white on rice. Party on, Simon…(Pictured here: Michelle, Julian, Laura, and Simon) It’s always the drummers, isn’t it? That energy, that crazed abandon, that ability to party long after the guitar player and lead singer drift off watching reruns of CSI:Miami. It’s that one thing that women can’t resist…the old, “How you doin’? God Bless the drummers.

This Wednesday (tomorrow, August 11^th) is DJ Metal Mel’s birthday at Cherry Cola. Thursday (August 12^th) are two not-to-be-missed functions. One is my old friend Paul Collins (and The Beat) one of the New Wave’s pioneers from The Nerves (Blondie’s “Hangin’ on the Telephone”), and The Beat) plays a rare show at The Silver Dollar, and Eagles of Death Metal bassist, Brian O’Conner, who is undergoing treatment for cancer in Los Angeles, gets a fundraiser at Cherry Cola.

On Friday, The Joys play a set at The Horseshoe Tavern, and on Sunday, the amazing James Taylor Tribute group, “You Can Close Your Eyes”, tapes a DVD at Hugh’s Room starting at 2 in the afternoon. No cover.

…and Johnny Favourite has a Monday night residency at Cherry Cola for the foreseeable future. This great 8 piece band channels Sinatra, Johnny Mercer, Sammy Cahn, and all the greats. Do not miss

And finally…

I promised you the story and here it is. As told by legendary outlaw, Jade Dunlop:

Jesse James. Billy The Kid. John Dillinger. Al Capone.

Every outlaw has a story.

Here’s mine.

It started as yet another summer adventure. Bob and I had been invited up to Casino Rama to visit with friends and take in a concert -  Creedence Clearwater Revisited. For Bob, this relaxing Friday afternoon getaway meant seeing some old buddies and possibly doing some gambling. For me, it meant returning to the scene of the crime.

We arrived at the bus station in Chinatown at around 4pm. The bus to the Casino would be leaving shortly. As we walked up to the counter, we were asked to show I.D. for obvious reasons. I, like everyone else on the bus, complied – big mistake.

We boarded the bus without issue, and the first 3 hours of what should have been a 2-hour trip went by uneventfully. The passengers dozed restlessly while the bus shakily made it’s way through long-weekend traffic up to the casino. We were passing through Orillia – just a few minutes away from our destination – when I was awakened by the “tour guide.”

“Miss, I need to see your ID again.”

Again, I produced my passport.

“Miss, there is a problem with the casino. Your name came up “red-flagged”. You’ll need to remain on the bus until security can speak to you.”

Oh God. Not this again.

For the rest of the ride, I sat – silent and anxious – while my in my mind I re-played the incident that took place over seven years ago. I thought I’d outrun my criminal past, but crime has a funny way of catching up with you…

It was a cold and snowy night in November of 2003. I was 15 years old. My grandmother, an avid gambler, had won dinner and a free night’s stay at the Casino Rama hotel, and had invited me to stay with her. Only a few hours after checking in, we decided it was time to eat. We had to pick up our free dinner coupons at the customer service desk. Problem was, the desk was on the casino gaming floor, and, being under 19, I was not allowed anywhere near there. The original plan was for my grandmother to pick up the tickets and for me to wait on the “safe” side of the ID checkpoint for her to return. But, as we approached the checkpoint, something strange happened. I couldn’t stop. Some rebellious spirit inside of me told me to keep walking. And so, at 6pm on that fateful November evening, I, a kid of only 15, stepped on to the casino floor and into a new life as an outlaw.

“Excuse me!” yelled a guard.

I turned cautiously around. Damn. I’d been caught!

“Sorry, Ma’am. I just needed to see your face. Carry on.”

My heart raced. My hands shook. I was in the clear! I was breaking the law and it felt so damn good! I cockily continued to the customer service desk. That’s where it all went wrong. Another guard wasn’t as confident about my being of age as the lady at the checkpoint was.

“Howdy, Miss! How old are you?”

“19 sir! And you?”

“Ho! You’re a funny one. What year were you born in?”

“…”

“Miss?”

“Hang on… ’87, ’86, ’85…carry the one…er…”

“You’ll need to come with me.”

SHIT! The proverbial jig was up! Damn me and my lack of basic math skills! My grandmother and I were walked into a back room, where we were interrogated for over 3 hours by hotel security, Ontario provincial police and the special police force that patrols the Rama Reservation. The evening culminated with me posing for a mugshot (in which I am smiling…) and being handed a piece of paper stating that I am never to return to Casino Rama property as long as I live. I was escorted out of the hotel and into the snow by two armed guards. Apparently I’m just that dangerous…

The bus shook to a halt and I was snapped back to reality. Bob and I waited as the rest of the passengers disembarked. Security stepped on the bus, and asked to have a word with me. To be honest, I was a little nervous.

“Do you remember what happened here seven years ago?” asked the guard. In his hand, he held some papers. One of which was my “indefinite banning” contract. The other was my mugshot. I almost laughed when I saw it. There I was – at 15 – a young lady with a rebellious spirit who was so confident in her decisions she couldn’t help but smile while the police and security took her picture. As I looked at the photo, my anxiety vanished, and that same smile once again appeared on my face.

“Of course I remember! What a swell evening!”

After speaking with security, I was escorted to another bus and was forced to return home. I would miss the concert, an evening with Bob and dinner with friends. The bus pulled out of the casino parking lot and literally drove off into the sunset; warm summer winds swept through the trees of the North Country and one by one the stars filled the sky. I was just another outlaw riding alone into the night.

Jade “The Casino Kid” Dunlop

That’s enough for now. Email me at segarini@fyimusic.ca with your comments, complaints, and thoughts…and remember…don’t believe a word I say.

Bob “The Iceman” Segarini was in the bands The Family Tree, Roxy, The Wackers, The Dudes, The Segarini Band, and Cats and Dogs, and nominated for a Juno for production in 1978. He also hosted “Late Great Movies” on CITY TV, was a producer of Much Music, and an on-air personality on CHUM FM, Q107, SIRIUS Sat/Rad’s Iceberg 95, (now 85), and now provides content for radiothatdoesntsuck.com with RadioZombie, The Iceage, and PsychShack. Along with the love of his life, Jade (Pie) Dunlop, (who hosts and writes “I’ve Heard That Song Before” on RTDS), continues to write, make music, and record.

Tagged as: Amy Mech, bob segarini, Cherry Cola, jade dunlop, Johnny Favourite, Paul Collins, Squeeze